And now, the really short chapter:
Three: You Need A Vacation
"Good morning, my friend," yawned a very sleepy Isaac Sumdac, clutching a coffee and moving zombie-like into his private lab.
"Good morning," replied Megatron, working very hard at containing his excitement. He watched the scientist move around, trying to locate his desk and chair. When he found it, he plopped down tiredly and yawned again.
"Did you remember anything from watching your friends last night?"
"Oh, yes. Yes, indeed. I recalled many of their behaviors and I have a proposal for you, my friend. But first you must agree with me on one thing."
"Yes, of course. What is it?"
"You need a vacation." The statement caught the scientist off guard, but he nodded and agreed,
"You are quite correct. I have not been on a vacation in a long time. My daughter has wanted to go to Sea World for some time...perhaps a trip to Florida is in order. Well, now, since that's settled, tell me your idea, my friend."
"I have thought more about your initial proposal of using animatronic puppets, and I have decided that we need to keep it a secret from the general public, including my friends. I feel that if people know about it, then crime in Detroit will not diminish. Rather, it will stay the same. I think it would be in our best interest to ask one of my friends to come here and perform a bio scan on him. I was thinking perhaps the medical officer."
"I see. And why him, exactly?"
"He is intelligent, and I want to see if there is a way to duplicate that into a puppet."
"Very well," replied Sumdac. "I will go over there myself and discuss it with him."
"No," said Megatron sharply, "no. Call him here on 'official business'. Order him to tell no one, and that he is needed for something very top secret."
"Um...very well. If you say so, my friend. When should I—"
"Have one of your men pay him a visit. Have him instruct the medic to visit me tonight around midnight, to talk. Do not mention me to him at all. Just have him come here to see me."
"...If you say so." Isaac Sumdac didn't feel all that safe suddenly. The robot head in his lab had a deep obsession with keeping himself secret from his friends. Wouldn't they be able to fix him with their own technology? But then again, he wasn't going to argue with the thing. So he obeyed the robot, unsure for the first time if it was really his 'friend'.
"Hello? Yes, this is Isaac...Joshua, please meet me in my office...not the private one, the other one...thank you." He looked over at Megatron and said,
"I must go meet my intern. He will deliver the message to your doctor friend."
"Excellent," said Megatron, very pleased at how well his plan was going already. "Remember, he must inform my friend to tell no one."
"Yes, my friend." And with that, Sumdac left the lab. Megatron laughed as soon as the human was out of range. He was rather surprised at how easy it was to control him. Humans were such stupid creatures! Megatron began his arrangements for the night's meeting. With Sumdac out of the way, he was able to use any power he had to construct a bio scanner that would do what he wanted it to do. It would have sounded far-fetched if Megatron had nothing to work with, but the obsolete lab had more in it than anyone would have expected.
The Decepticon could make it work for him, with a ton of patience and concentration.